Ring A Bell
by Panda Gravy
Summary: Alternatively titled "Scientific Study of So-Called Psychical Processes in the Higher Animals." Logan's a sucker for a good experiment and no one presents themselves as a test subject quite as obviously as James. Jagan.


**Scientific Study of So-Called Psychical Processes in the Higher Animals**

_Logan's a sucker for a good experiment and no one presents themselves as a test subject quite as obviously as James. Jagan._

**an: BTR clearly doesn't belong to me. Read on and enjoy!**

…

"'Mankind will possess incalculable advantages and extraordinary control over human behavior when the scientific investigator will be able to subject his fellow men to the same external analysis he would employ for any natural object, and when the human mind will contemplate itself not from within but from without.' Do you know who said that?" Logan was at the table reading a college-level psychology book. The question was directed at James, who was sprawled across the couch, his eyes trained on the TV.

For a few moments, Logan wondered if James had even heard him, because he didn't react in the least, didn't even look at him. But just as Logan took a breath to restate the question, James replied boredly, "Justin Timberlake?"

Logan groaned. He loved his friends. He just had to keep reminding himself that they had better qualities than the ones they showed most often. Like stupidity and ignorance.

"_Ivan Pavlov_," Logan drew out, enunciating every 'v.' "Ringing any bells?" he added, raising his eyebrows and smirking proudly at the pun.

But James had even less of a reaction this time, opting to not even respond. He was catatonic, mouth hanging open slightly as he stared blankly at the television from his laying position on the couch. If he hadn't made his first half-assed guess to Logan's pop quiz, Logan would have worried that James was maybe dead. It wasn't even like he was immersed in what he was watching, he was just so entirely uninterested in everything else, included Logan and his questions.

It was rude and obnoxious, but, then again, what else was James most of the time?

Logan stared at his friend with pursed lips for a few moments, giving him the overconfident chance to reply, and when nothing came after a minute, he stood from the table, shoving the chair back with a scrape. In seconds, Logan was in front of the TV, pressing the power button pointedly. As expected, James shot up with sudden life, glaring. "Hey!"

"Do you even _know_ what you were watching?" Logan snarled, frowning incredulously at James.

"No," James answered without hesitation or shame. "But it was something to watch! Now turn it back on!"

"No!" Logan snapped back, grabbing the remote control from the coffee table before James could and holding it behind his back, as if that would stop James if he really wanted it. Which he may have, because he braced his hands against the couch cushions as if he were going to lunge at Logan, who flinched back automatically, preparing himself to be tackled.

There was a tense moment between them, the air in the living room ceasing its circulation and holding still, like the molecules were ready to watch the inevitable battle. Logan kept his eyes locked stubbornly with those furious ones of James'. They couldn't have been staring at each other, frozen like that, for more than a few seconds, but it felt like minutes, and Logan couldn't take the silence, so he finally sputtered, "You—you have homework to do!"

To which, of course, James rolled his eyes with a _pft!_ sound. "Who cares? I'll do it later." He shrugged, relaxing again and leaning back against the couch. "Or maybe not."

Logan groaned. He hated how the other guys would shirk their homework, and James was the worst. He turned to set the remote on a shelf next to the TV as he spoke, knowing full well that James wouldn't get up to get it unless it was a last resort. "James, you have to pass class to be a pop star, and you have to do your homework to pass class. So if A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C. Understand?"

Clearly, James did not understand, because he was frowning at Logan with a hint of distress. "When did the alphabet become a part of this? I thought we were talking about homework."

Logan stared at James and sighed, his shoulders slumping visibly. A part of him considered that maybe James was a total lost cause and he should give up before he got himself frustrated trying to move a mountain of stupid.

But Logan was hardly one for giving up, especially when it came to stressing academia, and he squeezed his eyes shut, waving his hands dismissively. "Forget I said that, okay? The point is, you _need_ to do your homework if you think you're going to keep singing."

James' head lolled to the back of the couch with a groan. "But _Mooom_, I don't _waaant _to…"

Logan's lips tightened with growing frustration and he came about six clicks from stomping his foot in aggravated fury. Even Carlos would do his homework, knowing that he got supper afterwards. In Carlos' home growing up, finishing homework meant food, and that was just how his brain ended up being hardwired.

…of course. That was it. Logan felt his fists unclench at his sides as his eyebrows rose in appreciation of his own genius. Because, really, he was a genius.

"James," Logan started, sounding much calmer than before, and his friend lifted his head with a look just gleaming with sass, ready to respond to Logan yet again with sarcasm and attitude. "What if I give you a reward whenever you make progress on your homework?"

One of James' eyebrows raised questioningly, and he wasn't without rightful suspicion when he asked, "What kind of reward?"

Remembering that he'd stopped at the vending machine earlier, Logan took a few strides to his bookbag to pull out a large chocolate bar, causing James to perk up excitedly without him having to say anything. Ever since James had learned from an advertisement on TV (and later confirmed with Logan) that chocolate being bad for your skin was all a myth, he'd developed a huge weakness for it in any form; candy, ice cream, syrup… James loved chocolate. Logan knew this and often used it to his advantage, usually without James realizing it.

"Let's start with math. Every problem you get right, you'll get a piece of chocolate," Logan suggested, taking his math book and an accompanying notebook from the table and bringing it to James on the couch. Logan personally focused better at a strict, rigid surface like the table, or his desk, but he knew that if James was going to do work, he always did it on the couch or on his bed.

Uncertainly, but with his eyes still locked into the chocolate bar, James took the schoolwork from Logan and opened the textbook. Logan let him take the time to shift his eyes slowly from the candy to the book's pages and stare for a moment before he reached over to James' lap and turned it to the correct page for him, as he'd opened to a page far ahead in the unit. Still, James made a face at the numbers before him. He lifted his eyes to frown at Logan, clearly not convinced he could do this. In response, Logan wordlessly held the candy bar up, waving it. James grunted with determination and focused his eyes back on the pages.

Logan watched as James' brain creaked to life. It was like winding up a watch that hadn't been used in decades, listening as rusty gears and springs struggled against one another whiningly, trying to get a steady tick. It was reflected in James' eyes the way his brain was winding up and straining for some kind of synapses. He scratched the pencil on the notebook paper silently, his eyebrows drawn together in serious focus. They'd just talked about this section in class that day, so it was probably pretty fresh in James' mind, he just needed to take the initiative to remember it all. Logan had already done this work himself, earlier in the evening, and none of it was difficult, least of all the first problem, which was taking James at least eight times as long as it took Logan. He tried to seem patient, though, just watching James scribble numbers and some sort of process onto the paper.

Finally, with a touch of anticipation—and was that nerves?—James handed the notebook to Logan, watching him with expectant eyes. Logan examined James' answer, working through the problem in his head, eyes widening slightly as he read the final number. He didn't mean to look surprised, really, because he'd always said he knew James could do math if he just tried, but it was weird to actually see him produce a correct answer.

"Well?" James cut in, bringing Logan back to life as his eyes shot up to meet James'.

"You… got it right," Logan confessed, trying not to seem a little shocked.

There was a moment of unsure hesitation before James broke into a grin. "Great! Chocolate now?" His voice dropped low on the question, a certain solemnity in his eyes. Chocolate was serious business.

Coming back into himself, Logan nodded, unwrapping the candy bar and snapping off a small piece to hand to James. "You can have more the more you get right, okay?"

James popped the sweet cocoa candy in his mouth as he nodded vigorously, snatching the notebook back to his lap to continue working with enthusiasm.

Logan couldn't do much but stare as he started to realize James could definitely perform a difficult task if he knew a clear reward was ensured upon completion. Of course, this meant that James would come to expect a reward every time he completed a math problem, but it wasn't something Logan couldn't exactly facilitate. In fact, watching James work, Logan began to see this as an opportunity to turn James into a better student, one of those things Logan thought every person should strive to be. He smiled a little as the second problem's solution was thrust towards him and he broke off another piece of chocolate for his friend.

Logan could definitely see this little project going somewhere.

…

Throughout the week, Logan and James met on the couch every afternoon for Logan to tutor James and reward him with chocolate after every math problem he got right, or every question he answered correctly in the back of the science book, or every page he reached the end of in their assigned reading.

It would be lying to say that Logan wasn't enjoying himself. Not only did he get to hang out with his best friend for an hour or two every evening, it was while they both immersed themselves in math and science and literature, loves Logan had never really been able to share with any of his friends because they'd been so uninterested. But he was surprised to notice that James was not only sort of getting good at math, but he seemed actually interested in school lately.

Logan guessed the chocolate had a lot to do with it.

"Done!" James announced, shutting the biology textbook with a meaningful snap. He turned to Logan on the couch, opening his mouth. Logan grinned, shaking his head as he put the last piece of chocolate in James' expectant maw. His childish colors showing, James flicked his tongue out as Logan withdrew his hand, licking his fingers, to which Logan responded with a yelp and a laugh of "Gross!" while he tried to wipe his hand on James' shirt. "Dude, this is designer!" James protested, though he was laughing, too, and snatched at Logan's wrist to try and stop him.

Logan, of course, wasn't going to wipe James' saliva on his own clothing, so he kept pushing at his friend until James shrieked, tipping onto his back on the couch. Logan was yanked along and landed chest-to-chest on top of James.

James was mostly unfazed by their compromising position, his laughter dying down as he sucked on his chocolate, eyes smiling innocently up at his friend. Logan, on the other hand, felt a burning heat build up in him from his core, through his chest and brushing across his cheeks. He swallowed, staring down onto James' amusement and caught himself wondering briefly if James' lips tasted like chocolate now.

He suffocated his mind just as sudden thoughts of shoving his tongue into James' mouth bubbled up.

"Okay!" Logan announced loudly in response to absolutely nothing and wrested his wrist from James' hold, finally just wiping his fingers on his jeans as he untangled himself from James' body, hopping to his feet. The forced grin on his face was met with a confused look from James, who just stayed lying comfortably on the couch, propping himself up on his elbows. After a second, though, he shrugged, flopping back down again.

"So, it's the weekend. Do this again Monday?" James asked, sounding almost eager for his next study session with Logan.

His brain hot, Logan was ready to get out of this situation, and immediately jumped on his answer. "Yup! Monday! I'm gonna go study, see you later!" His voice was maybe a little higher than usual and he snatched his bookbag, walking briskly for the hallway.

He heard James laugh as the TV was turned on with a buzz, calling affectionately after Logan, "You're such a nerd."

…

Safely in his room, Logan was trying to focus his eyes on the words in his anatomy book, but the black print kept shaking and going fuzzy, and Logan knew it wasn't because he may need glasses.

It was completely normal for that thought to come up. He was in an awkward position with someone—forget it was his best friend, just forget it—and being in that sort of place with any person, mouths close together like that, any sane, vaguely sexually interested person would have had a thought similar to the one Logan had had.

Those were the sorts of things Logan was thinking about, not the ins and outs of the respiratory system.

He spent the next few hours on the same page, up until the time they had to leave for the studio, reassuring himself excessively.

…

The weekend went by too fast for Logan. He needed a longer break from James and his newfound excitement for learning. Not only was it slightly exhausting, but Logan had been staring emptily at pages in his books for two days, letting his mind run rampant and destroy him.

After class got out around lunchtime, Logan went to the vending machine in habit to get James' candy bar while the rest of the guys raced each other up the stairs to the apartment. Logan was grateful to be left out of the festivities; his bag was the heaviest and if Carlos got too excited and shoved Logan, which was bound to happen, he would be far too weighted to save himself from a concussion at the bottom of the steps. No, Logan much preferred to walk up the stairs at a sane rate.

The vending machine whined loudly at him when he pressed its buttons and Logan frowned. His eyes widened with a sinking feeling as he realized that the chocolate bar he'd been buying every day for over a week now was nowhere in the machine. The slot that usually held the candy was empty.

Panic filling him, Logan flew to the concierge desk, slamming his hands down in front of Bitters. "Where are the chocolate bars?" he growled out, eyebrows angled dangerously.

Bitters, of course, was unimpressed, as he always was with the four hockey players from Minnesota. Without looking up from his computer, where he was no doubt losing at solitaire, he responded, "We're out. And we're not getting any again until next week."

"Next week?" Logan squeaked, his voice resonating in a ridiculous difference from the tone of his first question.

"That's what I said," Bitters replied unenthusiastically, then frowned at his computer screen, lightly hitting his fist on the keyboard. "Stupid card game…"

Logan stood there in shock for a few moments before he trudged back to the vending machine, still flashing that he had inserted a dollar-twenty-five and was waiting for his request. He knew nothing good could come of it, but Logan finally thumbed the keys B-7, watching as a package of gummy fruits plopped to the door at the bottom of the machine.

…

When Logan plodded sadly into the apartment a few minutes later, James was already working on the couch, and bounded to his feet as soon as he saw Logan open the door. It was like a dog excited to see its master come home. "Hey! I already finished the first three problems in our math homework and I _swear_ I didn't cheat by looking in the back of the book! Chocolate now?" James explained as hurriedly made his way to Logan, holding up his notebook proudly and opening his mouth expectantly. That phrase, "Chocolate now?" had become a regular one in the last week and now made Logan cringe, wondering if this would keep up without the treat.

With a pathetic, questioning grin, Logan held up the small package of gummy candies, shaking it a little.

James' mouth closed slowly, a pout forming over his lips as his eyebrows came down in confusion. "…I don't like gummies." Which was exactly the response Logan had known was going to come, and he sighed heavily, walking around the very disappointed James to set down his bookbag on the couch.

"I know… but the vending machine is out of chocolate bars and Bitters says there won't be any more until next week sometime," he explained, knowing that wasn't going to make the situation better. It only made James' mouth fall open again in horror before he dashed after Logan to the couch, clearly searching for some kind of solution. The closest convenience store was too far away and grocery day wasn't until Thursday. And it was _Monday_. That was a long wait. And Logan didn't think James would do his homework without his rewards.

Finally, James sighed, falling sadly to the couch. "I'll… try the gummies, I guess…" he ceded, staring down at his notebook like he might cry.

Logan raised his eyebrows, both at the childishness that was James and his apparent addiction and in surprise that James would go ahead and accept the gummies as treats for doing his homework correctly.

"Well… okay," Logan said, not about to ask if James was sure when he was sure this was the best they'd be able to do for now. He sat down with James and took his notebook to check the answers as James opened the package of candy himself and popped an orange piece in his mouth, clearly trying to suppress a grimace.

…

"I hate the gummies. I don't want them," James stated simply the next day, seated next to Logan on the couch with his arms crossed.

Logan's eyebrows went up, his stomach sinking as he heard that as "I'm not doing my homework anymore because you don't have a sufficient reward for me."

"James…" Logan groaned, leaning forward on his knees in exhaustion. The previous day had been an uphill struggle and Logan noticed the decline in James' effort when the chocolate was replaced with gummies. If he wasn't so fixated on the fact that this was a serious issue, Logan would have been able to turn James into a fascinating science experiment.

"_Logan_…" James responded in a mocking tone, much higher pitched and whinier than Logan's voice and it solicited a glare from the shorter, much more intelligent, and, most importantly, more mature boy.

Logan sat up straight again, opening his math book with frustration, searching for their assignment. "Well, I don't know what to tell you, then. The gummies were a last resort."

Well, no, okay, let's be honest: Logan had had a dream the previous night that detailed some other way James could be rewarded for his efforts, but Logan had made a very precise point of forgetting that dream.

James threw his head back against the back of the couch, moaning, and Logan would have liked to get up and stomp away to his room right then. Not only did he not need to hear that sort of sound right now, he also didn't feel like being subjected to a classic James Diamond fit today. And he definitely recognized the first signs of a whining storm. "Logan, I thought you were _smart_. And gummies is the best you could come up with? Seriously? Those _suuuck_…"

Logan didn't want to smack James upside the head with his textbook, he really didn't, and that's why he was resisting the urge with such fervor. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, counting back from ten in his head. Logan was usually patient, but when James started _whining_… it just did something terrible to him.

"You could think of something better if you tried. There's totally better options! I mean, there's, like, a ton of stuff I like. And the best you could do is something I hate? That sucks, dude. It's like you're stupid or something."

Ten, nine, eight, seven…

"You didn't even try. You just figured I'd gotten easy or something. Or I actually _liked_ doing my homework. Dude, I was seriously only doing it for the chocolate… what's the point now?"

…six, five, four, three…

"Besides. Math is stupid. I hate it."

…twoonezero.

James was opening his mouth to say something else insulting, but he was cut off by Logan launching himself at his friend, effectively taking him down to the couch in a mess of noise. Surprising both of them, however, Logan wasn't trying to hit or strangle or maim James… far from it, actually, he was pressing his mouth hard against James' and pushing his hands abrasively up into James' hair, channeling all his fury at his idiotic and rude best friend through the kiss.

But it didn't last long before Logan realized his actions, what exactly he was doing, and he pulled away, staring down at a surprised—but _silent_—James. Well. At least Logan had shut him the hell up.

However, now they were trapped in another tense, drawn-out situation, and unlike the previous time Logan had found himself on top of James, he actually _had_ kissed him now. He couldn't blame his imagination for his actions.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Logan extracted his hands from James' hair, opening his mouth to apologize to his friend who seemed pushed past his limit for confusion. Logan knew better than to make any sudden movements around James; they befuddled him and threatened the safety of his brain. But before Logan could try and explain this away as an accident, James spoke up with, "I haven't done anything yet."

To this, Logan paused in getting off of him, snapping his mouth shut with a confused frown that could have challenged James' own. That just was a statement that didn't make sense. He waited a second to see if James was going to elaborate, but of course he wasn't, so Logan asked, "…what do you mean?"

"Well," James started, matter-of-factly. "I haven't started any homework, much less make any progress. All I've done is complain. So what was that for?"

Logan still couldn't quite understand. He shook his head, still laying on top of James, hovering over him. But thoughts of their position had fallen to the wayside with the way James was talking.

James rolled his eyes, becoming frustrated. "The kiss. What was that a reward for?" He clearly tried not to, but ended up smirking.

Realization didn't quite slam into Logan, but it sure did ease itself into him pretty fast. James was comparing Logan attacking him with his mouth to a sufficient replacement for chocolate. Which was flattering, Logan had to admit. But he couldn't help the way his eyebrows raised, surprised and confused. "Oh, uh, I… I was just trying to get you to shut up," he admitted, granted a little guiltily.

James shrugged under Logan, though. "If I start talking a lot, will you do it again?"

Logan wasn't big on blushing, but he couldn't stop the way his face got redder at the question. It was a blatant come-on. From _James_. James, who wanted Logan to kiss him again, apparently. In the last few days since the first time Logan had considered tonguing his best friend, Logan hadn't really considered if he actually felt anything for James, or if James had had any similar thoughts, or anything of the sort. He'd only considered that he'd had a strange, animalistic attraction to him and now he was still considering the same thing.

How could he say no?

And besides… if it got James doing his homework, maybe Logan could make this work for both of them.

His mouth darted back down to meet James' before he could even attempt talking anymore. This time, James pushed his mouth back against Logan's, pressing up and feeling forward with his tongue. Logan should have guessed James wasn't going to be gentle about anything, least of all kissing. He'd seen him handle enough relationships to know that James Diamond moved fast.

There was a short dominance battle between their mouths and tongues, Logan's hands feeling against James' head and neck while James' hands held firmly onto Logan's waist. However, Logan broke it off abruptly, lifting himself up a little to frown at his friend. "Hey. If this can be a reward, you've got to earn it."

James' face clearly reflected about a hundred different thoughts as they passed through his head. First, he was disappointed that Logan had prematurely ended his fun, then he didn't quite understand what Logan was saying to him, and then it clicked and he groaned, pouting. Logan rose off of James and sat back on the couch while James stayed lying, perhaps hoping Logan was kidding and would just come right back. When he didn't, James lifted his head, raising an eyebrow at Logan. "Dude, you're serious? I have to do more homework?" he whined, pushing himself up and looking disgustedly at the math book Logan had set on the coffee table. "The only reason I ever even agreed to this was to get you to spend time with me and stuff… and _maybe_ get you to do _that…_" he confessed, shrugging like it had been obvious of him.

However, Logan was surprised. His eyebrows went up with widened eyes below them. That was possibly one of the smartest things James had ever done, considering Logan hadn't caught on to what he was doing for over a week. It was… impressive, actually. Logan was really impressed with James' plan, even though it wasn't really all that complex or intricate, it was a lot for James.

"Woah… really?" Logan finally said, momentarily forgetting about the math book.

This reaction pleased James, and he grinned, turning to face Logan again. "Yeah! And you liked it, right? The kissy fun?" James wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Logan to narrow his own eyes a little.

"Well… yes," he confessed slowly, watching James scoot closer to him on the couch. He smirked, fully aware of what James was thinking about. "You have homework to do," Logan instructed smugly, picking up the textbook from the table and handing it to his study partner. The implication in his tone was that James would definitely get what he wanted if he did some homework… a repeat of the previous week, only now the reward was a much sweeter one than chocolate.

Throughout the evening, Logan peppered James with short kisses that could barely be constituted as kisses at all, struggling more and more to keep them chaste the more James wanted them and the longer the process went on. Every time, Logan glanced surreptitiously around them to check for any of 2J's other residents. A couple times, Mrs. Knight or Carlos walked through to the kitchen and Logan watched them out of the corner of his eye while he and James worked in seeming silence. Until they were alone again, of course, and then Logan would lean over and plant another kiss on James' mouth.

Of course, the light kisses only lasted until homework time was over. When James was through with his work, which seemed to take him a lot less time than usual—Logan wondered why—they didn't even bother packing away their books away before James was dragging the other boy to Logan and Kendall's room. He opened the door tentatively to check for Kendall, who seemed to thankfully be out. That was when he yanked Logan in by the shirt, pulling him hungrily to his mouth, apparently channeling all the frustration Logan had been building up not only with his little reward kisses, but also, unknowingly, with his closeness and chocolate-teasing over the last week or so.

But, again, Logan had to be a spoil-sport and push gently against James' chest to get him off. "Hey… wait… just… what does this mean?" he asked, nervousness suddenly hitting him. It had to show up sometime; Logan did nothing if it wasn't hand-in-hand with nerves.

James rolled his eyes, and then raised his eyebrows at Logan, ready to return to his task. "It _means_ that you have a way to get me to do my homework," he whispered, leaning close in to Logan, slowly.

Logan couldn't help smiling against James' lips. That much was true. He did now have a surefire incentive to get James to do his homework. And… maybe whatever else Logan wanted him to do.


End file.
